


Any Way the Wind Blows

by thisissparta789789



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!, Queen (Band)
Genre: Background Relationships, Biphobia, Bisexuality, Comedy, Concerts, Drama, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Femslash, Future Fic, Homophobia, Implied Sexual Content, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Mentioned Freddie Mercury, Music, Recreational Drug Use, Rock Stars, Rock and Roll, School Idols (Love Live!), Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll, Song Lyrics, Title from a Queen Song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:14:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25046725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissparta789789/pseuds/thisissparta789789
Summary: From their days as a school idol group to becoming the most successful rock band in the world, μ's defied stereotypes, shattered conventions, and ushered in a worldwide wave of Japanese music alongside other famous groups like Aqours, A-RISE, and Saint Snow. You all know the stories of their school idol era, but have you read about their post-reunion era? From the studio to the stage, read all about the nine girls from Tokyo that changed the world forever.(Reboot of In The Lap Of The Muses.)
Relationships: Nishikino Maki/Sakurauchi Riko
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Rejected

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In The Lap Of The Muses (REBOOTED, SEE DESCRIPTION)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10498170) by [thisissparta789789](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissparta789789/pseuds/thisissparta789789). 



_**August 10, 2020** _

"Motherfuckers," Maki Nishikino yelled out down a street as tears rolled down her face. "You're gonna reject your own fucking daughter because she likes girls _and_ boys, huh?! Or is it the fact that music is what I was born to do?!" She had just been forced to resign from the family hospital and was thrown out of her own house after she had came out as bisexual to her parents and told them she wanted to solely pursue music once the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was over. Ever since March of 2020, with the activities of her group put on pause due to the pandemic, she had chosen to go to work as a nurse at her family's hospital, which she had gone to college for after graduation from Otonokizaka High School. It had been rewarding, but she did not desire to stay in the medical field any longer. She covered her face with a mask as she walked down the desolate street in the night time, the tears staining it as she pulled her phone out and looked up a contact on it. As she pressed it, she thought to herself, _"Please, please pick up."_

"Hello, Maki-chan?"

"Nico-chan," she told her girlfriend. "I need to crash at your place. I..." She held back her own emotions as she recounted what had happened to her. "I got thrown out of the house for good. I'm not going back there."

"You gotta be kidding me." Nico Yazawa sighed, realizing the gravity of the situation. "Alright, alright, I'll pick you up. Where are you?"

* * *

_**August 11, 2020** _

The next day, Maki's girlfriend at the time, Riko Sakurauchi of Aqours, stepped into the spare bedroom Maki was staying in. The two had been dating for a year and a half by then, and enjoyed a close relationship. Maki had had a relationship with a man before, but Riko was her first partner that was a woman. Unlike her parents, Riko's parents were incredibly accepting of her sexuality and their relationship. "Darling, are you awake?"

"Yeah," Maki replied to her inside the room. She was sitting on the bed, smoking a cigarette, a habit she had picked up early on in her stint as a nurse due to stress. "Thank you for coming, Riko." She quickly placed her cigarette in an ashtray on a dresser and kissed her as she sat on the bed next to her. "I can't believe they rejected me, their only child."

"I'm moving to Tokyo pretty soon," Riko told her. "You can always move in with me."

"I'd love to," Maki replied to her with her first smile since she had been kicked out. "Riko-chan, I would love to live with you." She wiped her eyes before she hugged her and gave her another kiss, this time on her forehead. As they split, Maki turned to her phone and pulled up some familiar music she often listened to. "A Night At The Opera," she told her girlfriend. "It always helps get my mind off of shit."

As the beginning of Death on Two Legs played, Riko asked her, "You always say this song accurately describes your manager, right?"

"To a fucking T," she confirmed. "He's a dick, especially in the past six months we've been out of it due to the pandemic. Honoka agrees, and I actually taught her some of his song." She referred to band founder Honoka Kousaka, who was a year older than Maki. "She's advancing pretty well on the piano, and so is Rin. In fact..." She then paused Death on Two Legs to pull up a video she had on her phone. "I got a video of Honoka doing the piano intro and singing some of the song. We upped the pitch a semitone to make it easier for her to sing..."

...

In the video, shot a week prior on August 3 after Maki came home from the family hospital, Maki told Honoka, who sat at the foot of the redhead's personal piano, which was kept at Nico's house for safekeeping at the time, "Alright, I'm recording."

"Okay," she replied with a nod. "This is Death on Two Legs, Take 1." She then began the rather fast-paced piano intro, hammering away at the keys. She herself was amazed she was not making any mistakes this time around. After about thirty seconds, she stopped the intro and began playing the main part of the song. Without guitars, bass, and drums to back her, it sounded different from how the song normally went, but it still sounded remarkable. Then, she stood up from the piano to sing the song, with Maki putting the phone down in a stationary area to record both of them as she took over on the piano.

_You suck my blood like a leech! You break the law and you preach!_

_You screw my brain 'till it hurts! You've taken all, my, money... And you want more!_

_Misguided old mule! With your pigheaded rules!_

_With your narrow minded cronies who are foooools, of the first division!_

_Death on two legs! You're tearing me apart!_

_Death on two legs! You never had a heart of your own!_

_[Honoka/Maki:] Killjoy! Bad guy! Big talking... Small fry! [Honoka:] You're just an old barrow-boy!_

_Have you found a new toy t_ _o replace me?! Can you face me?!_

In a humorous display, Honoka then turned around away from the phone and bent down slightly before pointing at her own rear for the next line.

_But now you can kiss... My ass goodbye!_

_[Honoka/Maki:] Feel good! Are you satisfied?! Do you feel like... Suicide? [Maki:] I think you should!_

_Is your conscience all right?! Does it plague you at night?! Do you feel good?! [Honoka/Maki:] FEEL GOOD?!_

Honoka then broke down in a fit of laughter at the end, with Maki joining in soon after. "That was amazing," Maki told her. "I was not expecting you to actually bend over and tell Hosono-san to kiss your ass!" She referred to the band's manager at the time, Toru Hosono, who was about to not become the band's manager in several weeks, the end result of two and a half years of tension, broken promises, and dictatorial control over the members of the band. Their hatred of him would be one of several inspirations for their eighth album, which was at the time still in the early stages on development and was barely finalized in writing, much less recorded. Maki had a song idea that was almost finished, based off a dream she had of a great flood that enveloped the Earth, and she wished to see it incorporated onto the next album...

* * *

_**August 15, 2020** _

"Okay," said a technician inside a recording studio in downtown Tokyo as he sat at a console. "This is Take 1 of the piano track for Maki's Thing."

"Take 1," Maki then said into a microphone in the studio as she sat down at her piano and prepared herself. A few seconds later, she began playing a slow and haunting tune on the piano. After six bars, she made a mistake on the piano and stopped, sighing and calling out in annoyance, "Fuck!"

"I assume that means we're gonna restart," Eli Ayase then asked Maki through the intercom. "Right?"

"Yep," she nodded. "Take 2." This time, she performed the twelve bars necessary for the part of the song she had most solidified flawlessly, and at the end, she asked Eli and the studio tech, "How about that?"

"Хорошо," Eli assured her in Russian. "Beautiful, Maki-chan."

"Why thank you," Maki giggled in response. "Okay, I'm gonna do one more take, and from there, I'll decide which one is the best to use for this part of the song."

Nozomi Toujou, who was Eli's best friend at the time, asked her, "Have you got a name for it yet, Maki-chan?"

"I'm thinking of a few," Maki assured her. "But I don't wanna ruin the surprise. You guys will find out soon enough, don't worry! I may add some stuff to it as well. Just wait, it'll be a masterpiece!"

And a masterpiece it would be...


	2. In The Booth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics for Warning From The Heavens are entirely in Japanese. They are translated into English for convenience.

**_ August 16, 2020 _ **

_[Maki:] On this day, the people of the Earth looked into the sky and saw a message from the angels!_

_[Rin:] They said, "This world's beyond our saving! Morality is caving! To let it stay would be painful!"_

_[Nozomi:] The angels pointed to man who they said would lead the righteous, as he was an example..._

_[Maki/Rin/Nozomi:] An example of, a man who feared the Heavens! He had only one request and he demanded it be done!_

_[Maki/Rin/Nozomi:] He requested that his family go with him in his quest to lead the righteous!_

"That's Take 1 for the beginning vocals," Maki then told the other girls in the studio, all of them wearing masks if they were not alone inside the recording booth. "We'll overdub the end line with all of you in it together and separately."

Honoka was perplexed by the idea of having so many overdubs. "Why so many vocals tracks for a single line, Maki-chan? That's like 11 different vocal tracks with 21 different voices mixed in."

"Because that line is supposed to be sung by a large choir," Maki explained to her. "Alright, now, let's do Take 2..."

"Holy shit," Umi Sonoda remarked to the rest of the group. "I can tell this song's already gonna be our most intense."

* * *

Later on, Hanayo was in the studio, recording on the drums. She asked Maki as she adjusted her headphones, "So this is for the intro and the beginning lines, correct?"

"Yeah," Maki replied with a nod. "Come up with whatever you think fits first, and we'll tweak it from there. Try to enter in with a crash of cymbals."

"You got it," she replied before she counted down by hitting her drum sticks together. Then, she did as Maki told, and smashed her cymbals hard to create a loud crashing sound. Once the drums ceased, she paused for the beginning lines, but when the final line came up, she began playing the drums to the syllables of each line. This was followed by a drum fill that lasted for a quarter of a minute before the track ended and she stopped. "Okay, Maki-chan, how was that?"

Nico asked her, "What do you think? I thought it was good."

"Hmm," she pondered to herself. "Do it again, but make the drum fill more complicated."

"That's fine," Hanayo assured her as she took a deep breath and waited for the track to begin once more.

* * *

Right after, Hanayo recorded her solo take for the final lyric of the intro.

_He requested that his family go with him in his quest to lead the righteous!_

Her vocals were a high-pitched harmony, and as she finished, Nico asked Maki, "How about that?"

"Go higher," Maki immediately told Hanayo.

Hanayo was confused. "Um... That was pretty high already."

"Go higher," Maki repeated her instruction a bit slower this time.

"Okay, okay," she replied as she took a deep breath in and out.

_He requested that his family go with him in his quest to lead the righteous!_

Kotori Minami, who was also in the studio alongside Nico and Maki, was amused to hear Hanayo sing so high. "That's pretty damn high up, and that's coming from me."

"And that's why she's my go-to for high harmonies in my songs," Maki told her. She then turned back to Hanayo. "You're gonna hate me for this, but go higher, as high as you can, Hanayo."

"If I go any higher," she told Maki, a bit annoyed by now. "I'm pretty sure only dogs are gonna hear me."

"Just trust me on this one," Maki assured her.

Hanayo sighed. "Alright, alright..."

_He requested that his family go with him in his quest to lead the righteous!_

"Good, that was excellent," Maki then finally approved. "Just do another take or two of that line, and we'll be good to go."

After Hanayo took a sip of water from a water bottle to deal with a dry throat from singing so high up, she told Maki, "I can already hear my vocal cords digging their own graves."

* * *

Later that day, Maki and Riko had just finished a round of sex in a backroom of the studio away from everyone else. Aqours was also recording an album in the same studio, and the two often ran into each other at work. After several days of working together, the two had decided to let out their stress from work sexually, and as Maki put her t-shirt back on and Riko put her bra back on, she ashed her, "Riko, dear, do you want to do this again when we go home later?"

"Absolutely," Riko confirmed. "I wanna see how far we can last in bed before we tired out. Anyway, Chika-chan asked how progress on the new song is going."

"Fantastic," Maki assured her. "Though I wanna maybe add a few things to it. I was thinking of this silly little part where I sing solo and I'm put on this tape delay."

"Tape delay? Interesting." Riko then asked her as she put her shirt and facemask back on, "How do you plan on that?"

"I was thinking that my vocals would be echoed on a delay in time with the beat of the song," Maki explained to her, also using her hands to visualize it. "And it would be four voices, each one panned to the left or the right in stereo. It would just be me, so there would be no other instruments but my voice. The only problem is how I finish it, because I keep adding parts to it whenever I want it to end..."

* * *

_**August 17, 2020** _

Nozomi played a bristling guitar solo on her guitar, a BMG Super she had received as a gift from Maki and Eli the year prior, as the rest of the band watched from behind the studio glass. With every note and every chord played, she hyperfocused even more, wanting to not make any mistakes. The guitar was a relatively recent passion of the tarot-playing idol, who had taken it up at Nico's insistence the year prior to the group reuniting in 2018. After a minute, the solo ended, and she took a deep breath as she wiped her forehead of sweat. "So," she asked Maki. "Now what?"

"Hanayo does a drum solo here as the song speeds up in tempo," Maki explained to her through the intercom. "Kotori's got some synths she'll lay down during the solo, and we're gonna add some storm sound effects to it. Anyway, that was pretty damn good, Nozomi."

"I gotta ask," Nozomi replied. "How long is this? We're already up to 3 minutes and it doesn't sound like the song is even done."

"Right now," Maki admitted to her. "It's about 6 minutes, but I'm adding more stuff."

"More stuff," Nozomi said to herself in humorous disbelief. "More stuff... Maki-chan, that's long as Hell... How much more time do you think we need to record this song?"

"Even with what I'm thinking," the redhead replied to her. "We should be done by the 22nd, and then we can move onto the next songs on the album. I'll stay up as long as I can at night to mix this so we can get this song done first. I gotta good feeling about this, and I've already settled on a name."

"A name?"

"Warning From The Heavens," Maki confirmed to her. "It's a weird title, I know. Be honest."

Nozomi giggled, liking it. "Maki-chan, I love it."

"No, no, I can tell you got other thoughts about i-"

Nozomi smiled as she held her guitar up to her mouth and spoke directly into it to amplify her voice and interrupt her doubts. "I love it!"

"Right, right..." Maki then sighed and asked her, "After all, what do we have to lose?"

"At this point," Nozomi answered. "Not a fucking thing."


	3. The Second Long One

_**August 28, 2020** _

"Okay," Eli told Maki as she sat next to her personal 1982-vintage Kawai KG grand piano inside the recording studio. "This is Take 1 of the piano track for The Second Long One, starting with the song Happiness by Maki Nishikino. Maki, you got the parts from everyone else, right?" By now, Side 1 of the double album, which still had no name, was finished, and Side 4 was to be done next.

"Yeah," Maki affirmed to her. "Time to play for a good 24 minutes or so straight." She took a deep breath, and then placed her hands over the keys. "Here we go." After a few more seconds, she began playing the piano to her track, which was called Happiness. It was a slow ballad about a young woman who sought to attain the song's title after being rejected by those around her, which was something she had unfortunately based on real life. As she continued, she saw that the next song, written by Nico, was in a completely different tempo, and was more fast-paced. _"I better not fuck this up,"_ Maki thought to herself as she reached the end of her track. She came to an abrupt stop since the song, known as Fire Dance, started off with a lone guitar. Once her part came in on her music sheets, she quickly got to work, playing at a faster pace than before.

On the other side of the glass, Eli and Nico watched, impressed with how well she handled the transition. "I love it," Nico remarked to her. "She did that like it was nothing."

"How was that?"

"Excellent," Nico replied to her through the intercom. "Do you want to do another take? We don't think you do. We're all surprised you managed to do all 9 songs in one sitting."

"It wasn't easy," Maki admitted. "But I managed. I think we should be good. Let's get the rest of these songs recorded." The band had planned for Side 4 of the album to have a single 9-song medley where each member of the band wrote and sung lead vocals in a song, beginning with Maki and ending with Umi. They had dubbed it The Second Long One, a reference to The Long One medley from the Beatles' Abbey Road album. Another feature was that each song had an instrumental break in it that featured whatever instrument each member most commonly used. Maki's had a piano solo, Nico's had a guitar solo, Eli's had a bass solo, Honoka's had a vocal solo, Hanayo's had a drum solo, Kotori's had a synthesizer keyboard solo, Nozomi's had a guitar solo, Rin's had a vocal solo, and Umi's had a guitar solo.

* * *

Later that day, Nico began recording a guitar track for several of the songs, including her song, known as Fire Dance. Nico's guitar was special to her, and was rather old. It was a home-made copy of Eddie Van Halen's famous Frankenstrat that her father, a musician before his untimely death and her inspiration for getting into music as an idol, had built when he was only 17. The guitar, which was chaotically painted red, black, and white, was originally kept in storage after he died until Nico decided to try her hand at the guitar in between her first failed attempt at an idol group and the formation of μ's. She then picked it up again and learned more on how to play it while in college.

As the now 26-year-old idol strummed on the guitar, starting off with Maki's song first, Hanayo was in a second studio on the property recording a completely different song not in the medley on the drums, which she had learned from her mother, who had handled percussion in the studio while an idol in her youth. She adjusted her headphones and asked Rin, who headed the recording panel for her, "Okay, are we good?"

"All set, Kayo-chin," Rin assured her. "The drumless track for the original version slightly sped up is ready to play."

"One two three, one two three," Hanayo said to herself as she clacked her drumsticks together before beginning a cover of the song I'm In Love With My Car, which would be on Side 3 of the album. As she tirelessly worked, the original song, minus its drums, played in her headphones, calling back in her mind to the day she first tried the song out, including singing it.

* * *

**_August 7, 2019_ **

During a break in recording for the band's more conventional fifth album, LOVELESS WORLD, Hanayo sat at the drum kit of one of the instruments their manager, Toru Hosono, had hired to help tweak Maki's original synthesized instrumentals from 6-7 years prior. Maki was in the studio with her, and told the girl, "Your English is far improved now than it was back then. You can totally sing this."

"Right," she nervously nodded as she took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

Rin cheerfully encouraged her with, "Let's go, Kayo-chin!" She was eager to see her kill it on the drums. "The song's all ready!"

"One two three, one two three," Hanayo counted down to the beat of a metronome set to the song before it began, striking the cymbals first and then playing at a frantic pace. She wore her headset she normally used to sing while dancing on stage at the time, and as the lyrics approached, she took another deep breath. "Oooooh..."

_[Hanayo:] The machine of a dream... Such a clean machine!_

_[Hanayo:] With the pistons a pumpin'! And the hubcaps all gleam!_

_[Hanayo:] When I'm holding your wheel! All I hear is your gear!_

_[Hanayo:] When my hand's on your grease gun! Mmmm, it's like a disease son!_

Maki by now had joined her on a keyboard nearby, also singing along with her in the chorus. The two sang and played over the original song, which Maki had pitched up a semitone to make it easier to sing.

_[Hanayo/Maki:] I'm in love with my car! ([Maki:] Oh yeah!) [Hanayo:] Gotta feel for my automobile!_

_[Hanayo/Maki:] Get a grip on my boy racer rollbar! [Hanayo:] Such a thrill when your radials squeal!_

_[Hanayo:] Told my girl I have to forget her! Rather buy me a new cartburettor!_

_[Hanayo:] So she made tracks sayin' this is the end now!_

_[Hanayo:] Cars don't talk back! They're just four wheeled friends now!_

Outside the booth, the whole group and the session musicians watched in delight at the two of them playing together.

_[Hanayo:] When I'm holding your wheel! All I hear is your gear!_

_[Hanayo:] When I'm cruisin' in overdrive! Don't have to listen to no run of the mill talk jive!_

_[Hanayo/Maki:] I'm in love with my car! ([Maki:] Oh yeah!) [Hanayo:] Gotta feel for my automobile!_

_[Hanayo/Maki:] I'm in love with my car! [Hanayo:] String back gloves in my automolove!_

After a few bars of jamming, the two closed the song out, and as Rin keyed up the intercom, they could see everyone outside cheering and clapping from beyond the glass. "That was fucking amazing," Rin cheered for them. "You two rocked it! Kayo-chin, you sang it so well!"

* * *

In the present, as Hanayo finished the drumming for the song, she asked Rin, "How's that? I don't think we'll need a second take for that!"

"Agreed," Rin replied eagerly. "We could knock out a second song now. Try out Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon."

"Lazing, got it," Hanayo nodded as she then adjusted her headphones. As the song began playing in her headphones, she calmly drummed along to the track, which was slower and more based on vaudeville and British music hall. As part of a triplet of Queen covers on Side 3 of the album, it would be between Death on Two Legs and I'm In Love With My Car, as it had been on A Night At The Opera. With the end of the song, Hanayo took a deep breath and asked Rin, "Another take on that? I wasn't too good at the end."

"Up to you," she assured. "I think it's fine, but if you wanna do it again, go ahead."

"Nah, I think that ending was shit," Hanayo disagreed as she shook her head. "I'll do it again."

* * *

_**August 29, 2020** _

Maki was up at 1:30 in the morning that day, completing the finishing piano touches on a song Eli had written called Bassist's Walk as well a song Hanayo had written called Union. Maki sang lead vocals on both songs, though she had not written them. As she finished the rather short section of piano Union had, which was the only piano on the song, she sighed once it was done, and wiped her eyes. She had either sung or played piano since 7 in the morning nonstop, and everyone else had already left to go to bed around 10 at night. The only person left was Riko, who stayed with her girlfriend and recorded for her. "Darling," Riko asked her, "You look really tired. Do you wanna stop now?"

"Fuck no, babe," Maki assured her with a smile. "Not until we get Bassist's Walk's piano line done."

Riko chuckled. _"There's her stubborness and hard work ethic again,"_ she thought to herself. _"I love you for that, but it can get a bit annoying."_

Maki then played piano for about half a minute before she made a mistake and stopped, muttering, "Fucking Hell." She then spoke up to Riko, "Okay, one more time from the top." She once again began hammering down on the keys as Riko watched, totally concentrated on the music she made with her hands and fingertips. She had learned the piano at a young age, and it had been the main, though not only, cause of her obsession with the British rock band Queen, with the other being the fact that her birthday was also the same day the band had first performed in Japan 45 years ago. Their songs had been the first she learned that were not classical compositions, the very first being Bohemian Rhapsody of course. They had also been her main motivation to learn how to sing in and later speak English.

* * *

_**November 16, 2012** _

"So," Maki asked Rin, Nico, and Hanayo as they all stood in a rather large closet in her room. "What do you think?"

"It's, uh," Nico replied in disbelief as she looked around the closet, which was about the same size as her bedroom at her house, especially at the fact that the "closet" contained not many clothes, and instead was a music shrine, with over half of it dedicated to Queen. "Very big..."

Hanayo was amazed to see what she had on the walls and hung up. "Woah... You must have like every album they made."

"Every studio album," Maki explained. "Every live album, and their bigger compilation albums like Greatest Hits and Classic Queen. They're on CD and vinyl." She then pulled out a box from a shelf in the shrine. "And here are some not-so-legal releases from bootleggers. I downloaded some for free and bought some from others. These are shows that are good, but never got an official release."

"Uh," Hanayo replied, worried for her. "Aren't those illegal? What if the police find out you bought them?!"

Maki blew off her concerns. "Pfft, nobody cares. I bought these with my own money either online or from conventions."

"You? Conventions?" Nico laughed, finding the idea of Maki at a convention hilarious. "Wow, I can't picture it at all!"

Maki, annoyed, replied, "I got things I fangirl over to, you know. This band is one of them. Why else do you think I wasn't around that one Saturday for practice back in September?"

"This all must cost a fortune," Rin remarked to her, amazed by the shrine. "It's amazing, nya!"

"I also got Elton John, Billy Joel, the Beatles, Loudness, Led Zeppelin, and Bow Wow in here alongside Queen," Maki showed off. "All stuff your parents probably are somewhat familiar with."


	4. Finished

_**September 26, 2020** _

The band gathered in a small room together at Kotori's house to celebrate the completion of their album, which wrapped up recording and mixing just four days before following over a month and a half of work where the band had recorded, produced, and mixed for an average of 10-12 hours a day, almost every day, almost on their own with only minimal outside help in the middle of a global pandemic. In the room was a television screen with the band's manager, Toru Hosono, and his brother, Ichiro Hosono. As the final track on the album, the end of the Second Long One medley on Side Four of the double album, played and concluded, they could see that they both had mixed opinions on it. Once it finished, Toru expressed to the band, You know, I was not expecting this out of an idol group. I'm not sure this is the album I was promised."

"It's better than the album we promised you when you let us use our own instruments," Maki replied to him. "It's a damn masterpiece."

"It is a really good album," Nico remarked to the brothers through the teleconference. "And we're calling it Bayside Shakedown."

"It's expensive as Hell," Ichiro replied to her. "And there isn't even a song called Bayside Shakedown on it."

"Tons of great albums don't have a song named after the title," Eli replied. "Just look at many of Hokago Tea Time's works."

”But you guys aren’t like them,” Toru replied to her. “They’re stuck in a way of doing things that predates their existence, releasing barely any singles and going with mostly albums. The only purpose of albums today is to be a vehicle for potential singles.”

”I respect your view,” Honoka replied to him, holding back the urge to cuss him out already. “But we disagree. We feel like albums can still be their own art form outside of just behind a vehicle to release singles. We know exactly what we want, Hosono-san, and it’s this album.”

Ichiro then sighed. “Girls, listen, we already let you play your own instruments on the last album and in this one. Just let us rename it and reshuffle the track list at least. We’ll keep most of the songs.”

”Most? Most?!” Maki was angered by his attempt at a compromise. “I refuse to let you change the track order or remove songs.”

”Well, first off,” Ichiro replied. “What’s the deal with those covers? This isn’t the 1970s, girls. This is 2020. In the middle of a global pandemic, people want to hear current music to make them feel comfortable, not experimental or old music. Also, I don’t particularly like that one about two legs or something.”

 _”Of course he would hate Death in Two Legs,”_ Honoka thought to herself. She then turned to Aikuro Saga, the group’s lawyer, who stood in a corner of the room. “Damn it...”

Nozomi then asked, “Saga-san, do we not have any legal recourse for this?”

”Well,” Aikuro replied to her. “I will say this.” He then pointed to a record plaque on the wall of the Hosono’s office. “Toru-san, you produced Iron Frill III, right? The last one with Mizuno Ai before she got struck by lightning, correct?”

”Yeah, why?”

”That’s a really good album,” Aikuro remarked. “Really good... Legally, not so much, since it’s got all your slimy little fingertips on it, but musically, it’s wonderful. Now, you and your brother are really big names in the music industry, but to the average person, you’re basically nobodies. Mention the name μ's on the other hand...”

After a relatively long pause, Toru finally spoke up. “Fine, we’ll not change the album, but we are absolutely not releasing Warning From The Heavens as a single! An eight-and-a-half minute song will never be played on contemporary radio!”

“Yes,” Maki replied to him as she lit up a cigarette from her pocket with a lighter and smushed it on his desk. “It will. It is going to be our first single from the album. We discussed this before we played it, and it’s not up for debate."

"It goes on forever," Tori retorted. "Eight and a half minutes is insane!"

"I feel bad for your wife if you think eight and a half minutes is too long," Maki replied, causing the rest of the band to chuckle in response to her remark. "Look, we'll discuss it, and me and Honoka will give you our answer tomorrow. Deal?"

"Deal," Toru and Ichiro both replied together.

...

_**September 27, 2020** _

The next day, Maki, Honoka, and Toru were riding in the back of a limousine in Tokyo, all of them wearing masks as they discussed several topics. "The virtual interview on NHK is in a few days at 8 in the morning. They want at least three members of the group. The next day, Young Guitar Magazine want to interview Umi, Nozomi, and Nico..."

Maki then told him, "I see, I see... Anything else?"

"Okay," Toru explained to Honoka and Maki as the former adjusted her seatbelt. "Girls, get serious here for a sec. You two represent, to me at least, the brightest stars in μ's, and let me tell you, you hear a lot more about Harry Styles and Zayn Malik now than you do about One Direction. I think Kousaka Honoka and Nishikino Maki could do even better. In fact, I've been talking to Sony Music about a potential solo deal." As Toru pulled out a giant folder of papers, he turned to Maki. "Come on, it would be a way to always get what you want. The deal is for 1 billion yen each. That's a shit ton of money."

Honoka and Maki were stoic for now, but on the inside, both were furious. _"Are you fucking kidding me?! That's it,"_ Honoka thought to herself. _"We need to fire him now."_

Maki asked him, "Are you suggesting we split up μ's again?"

"I'm just pointing out a way for you to go solo," Toru explained as he felt the pressure from them set in. Honoka then nodded to Maki, a sign that confused him. "What's going on? Am I missing out on something?"

Maki then paged the driver of the limo and gave him a simple instruction: "Pull over. Stop the car, pull over!"

As the limo came to a screeching halt in the middle of busy Tokyo traffic and pulled to the side of the road, much to the annoyance of drivers around them, Toru asked, "What the hell?"

"Get out," Maki then demanded of him. "Now. Get out of this fucking car. You're fired."

"Fired?! What the fuck do you mean fired?! Honoka, Maki, what's the meaning of this?!"

"Out," Maki then yelled at him. "Get the fuck out of my car now, you greedy little virus! I know how you refer to me around your brother, asshole!" She then reached over him and pushed him aside as she forced open the door on his side.

"You fucking dyke," Toru insulted her. "Get your filthy hands off me!"

"Get the fuck out of here!"

Just as Maki pushed him out, he yelled at them a stern warning. "You two just sunk your careers with this! You'll regret it!"

Maki yelled out to him, "Go fuck yourself! And by the way, Shove It, Death on Two Legs, and Flick of the Wrist were all about you, prick!" She then slammed the door shut and yelled to the driver, "Go! Drive off!"

Toru, left alone out in Tokyo with no mask, no way back, and now no band to manage, threw the folder at the limo, spreading its papers all over the street as he yelled, "Fucking psycho bitch! You'll pay!"

Honoka then cheered to Maki, "Hell yeah, we got him!" However, Maki did not reply to Honoka's attempt at a hi-five, concerning her. "Maki-chan, what's wrong?"

"I can't believe he said those things about me," Maki grumbled. "Calling me a dyke, a fag, a slut... It fucking hurts, Honoka-chan."

Honoka immediately understood the seriousness of the situation. "I see. I'm so sorry he called you all those things. Maki-chan, if I had known any of this, I would not have hired him when we reunited. I feel like it's my fault, in a way."

"Don't blame yourself," she assured her. "None of us could have seen this coming, Honoka-chan."


	5. Premiere

_**October 3, 2020** _

With the Hosono brothers no longer on their backs, μ's was free to release the album and promote it how they wanted, and they chose to release only one single from the album before its intended release date of November 24th, a rare move in the modern music industry. Additionally, they also were working on the first live album by the band, a collection of performances from the 2012-2013 era when they were in high school, that would be released on November 1, as well as for a series of virtual concerts to promote Bayside Shakedown starting on November 10.

In Hakodate, radio DJ and musician Sarah Kazuno of Saint Snow, who had been running a bi-weekly 4-hour radio program for about a year now that aired every Friday and Saturday night. She had gotten to know μ's well, as she had promoted their previous five albums and fifteen singles on her show in the past. Today, broadcasting with her was Maki, who was joining in from her house on the broadcast around 7:30 P.M. JST. "So this new single of yours," Sarah asked her. "What exactly is it all about?"

"Well," Maki explained to her. "I've written it for a while now, and over time, it evolved into this long musical number about the Great Flood from the Bible. The initial idea came when I had a rather vivid nightmare about it a while ago, though the Prophet's Song also certainly gave inspiration."

"For those unaware," Sarah added. "The Prophet's Song is a song by Queen."

Maki chuckled. "Indeed it is. Anyway, um, I wrote it initially with only lead vocals from me. However, Nozomi-chan and Rin-chan were interested in the song as well, so I initially wrote a short segment for them that later became much longer. If I had to guess, the song was originally going to be about five minutes, but over time, it came to about eight and a half minutes."

"That's really long," Sarah noted. "You could fit two or three songs of normal length in there. I teased parts of it last night throughout the show, and my listeners are calling in constantly about it."

"That's good," Maki joyfully replied. "It means people love it."

"And for those who want to hear it," Sarah added. "You're all in luck, because for the very first ever in this universe of ours, I would like to present at this very specific moment in time in the middle of one of the most important years in modern human history... The new, μ's, single! Ladies and gentleman, this is Warning From The Heavens!" She then pressed play.

**(A/N: The following is not an exact translation of the song into English, though the meaning is the same. Some words were changed to keep the flow of the song.)**

The song began with a smashing of cymbals and the cry of three guitars, followed by one of the guitars playing a riff. Then, the vocals began and a loud, foreboding piano began playing.

_[Maki]: On this day, the people of the Earth looked into the sky and saw a message from the angels!_

_[Rin:] They said, "This world's beyond our saving! Morality is caving! To let it stay would be painful!"_

_[Nozomi:] The angels pointed to man who they said would lead the righteous, as he was an example..._

_[Maki/Rin/Nozomi:] An example of, a man who feared the Heavens! He had only one request and he demanded it be done!_

_[ALL:] He requested that his family go with him in his quest to lead the righteous!_

The riff continued for a few more bars before an intense drum fill by Hanayo queued in the next section of the song. Now, the guitars stopped, and only a piano remained playing as all 9 members of the band joined in as a choir.

_[ALL:] Death! All! Around!_

_[ALL:] The waters purge the Earth of the unredeemable! (Unredeemable! Unredeemable! Unredeemable!)_

_[ALL:] Now the time has come! Now the time has come!_

Now, even the piano stopped after a smashing of cymbals, leaving only the 9 members of the band and their voices.

_[ALL:] No more shall the evil inherit this planet! (This planet! This planet! This planet!)_

_[ALL:] The warning from the heavens has come forth! Come forth! Come forth! Come foooooorth!_

Once the choir section ended, Nozomi shifted into overdrive on the guitar, playing a solo that lasted for almost a whole minute. The solo was dark and foreboding, as if a storm was really in the background. This was helped by synths from Kotori that added to the atmosphere, as well as cracks of thunder and lightning.

Then, the guitar suddenly stopped, and Hanayo began a drum solo as the song sped up in tempo. As she played away, all pistons firing, she concentrated heavily on the snare and tom-toms to produce a filling and loud sound on the record, which would occasionally be broken by the cymbals of her drum set. Then, she focused on the hi-hat, playing a rhythm as the other instruments entered back into the fray.

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come," said the righteous man, as the sinful people of the Earth were washed away!_

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come," said the righteous man, as the angels' warning from the heavens came too late!_

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come," said the righteous man, as God cast his judgement on the sinful below!  
_

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come,"_ _said the righteous man, as they were swept away at a distance just a stone's-throw!_

_[Rin:] We can hear the people shout! We can hear the people scream! Yet we cannot do a thing! Yet we cannot do a thing!_

_[Rin:] They brought it on themselves! They brought it on themselves! The people of the Earth! The people of the Earth!_

_[Nozomi:] This melody of destruction guarantees, that once these sinners cease to be!_

_[Nozomi:] Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth! Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth!_

_[Maki/Rin/Nozomi:]_ _Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth! Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth!_

 _[ALL:]_ _Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth! Peace all around will be brought back to the Eaaaaaaarth!_

Then, another clash of cymbals by Hanayo on the record queued up another tempo change, this time to 75 BPM. No instruments were present, except for Maki's voice, which had a delay-echo effect added.

_[Maki:] Aaaaah... (Aaaaah... Aaaaah... Aaaaah...)_

_[Maki:] Woah woah woah woaaaaah! (Woah woah woah woaaaaah! Woah woah woah woaaaaah! Woah woah woah woaaaaah!)_

_[Maki:] Can't they listen to the words of the heavens? (Can't they listen to the words of the heavens? Can't they listen to the words of the heavens? Can't they listen to the words of the heavens?)_

_[Maki:] As the cracks in their facade begin to widen... (As the cracks in their facade begin to widen... As the cracks in their facade begin to widen... As the cracks in their facade begin to widen...)_

_[Maki:] Their true nature is revealed! (Their true nature is revealed! Their true nature is revealed! Their true nature is revealed!)_

_[Maki:] They should have listened... (They should have listened... They should have listened... They should have listened...)_

_[Maki:] To the warning from the heavens! (To the warning from the heavens! To the warning from the heavens! To the warning from the heavens!)_

_[ALL:] Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! (Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah!)_

_[ALL:] May God grant us strength! (May God grant us strength! May God grant us strength! May God grant us strength! May God grant us strength!)_

Then, as the last line ended, a drum fill from Hanayo saw the song speed back up to 143 BPM as a long-winded guitar solo by Nico began. The solo saw her play for a full minute and a half and go in practically every extreme in terms of notes and octaves, playing both the lowest and highest notes possible in her solo. Then, Rin began singing.

_[Rin:] Now the flood has passed, and the righteous have the Earth! No longer shall war and hate poison minds! The angels and their God are satisfied!_

_[Nozomi:] The perfect world is upon us! The land is clean and free! So are the water of the seas! The blight of the seven sins has ceased to be!_

Then, Umi ended the hard rock section with a riff that had a delay-echo effect applied to it. Once the last of the guitar was heard and faded out, the song became quiet as Maki sang the last line alone.

_[Maki:] Oh, the land is pure... Oh, the people are free... The heavens are satisfied... The heavens are satisfied!_

Finally, Nozomi started up the guitars again, this time quieter than before as she played a repetitive riff for about half a minute. Then, suddenly, a sudden loud note and clash of cymbals ended the song with a scare chord that made even Sarah jump in her studio. Once the song came to a close, Sarah said to her stunned audience, "Excuse me while I... I, uh... Scrape myself off the ceiling after hearing that. Oh my God... That was Warning From The Heavens by µ's. My, my, haven't they come a long way since 2012, folks?"

"Are you satisfied?"

"Absolutely," Sarah replied to Maki. "That single is going to get you guys places. This won't just be a hit in Japan. I can tell it'll be a hit everywhere. When is it coming out?"

"Tomorrow," Maki confirmed. "It comes out on Sunday, October 4, in stores and on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, and all that."

"With that song in mind," Sarah continued. "How about we play that other song you mentioned? I have a feeling it's gonna get a bit of a bump, too."

"The Prophets Song? Absolutely," Maki agreed. "Let's play it."

"Okay, this is the grand-daddy of that last song we did," Sarah began. "This is the Prophet's Song by Queen, from the album A Night At The Opera." As the song began, she told Maki off the air through her computer, "That song was fucking fantastic. Talk about a breath of fresh air."

"That's a song they're gonna still be talking about 50 years from now," Maki predicted. "Just watch."


	6. The News

**_ October 5, 2020 _ **

It was now Monday, and Rin was in her apartment around 8:30 A.M. checking the news on a laptop that was labelled "RIN'S PERSONAL/SONGWRITING LAPTOP" on the top cover. She also had a new song idea for whatever the band's next album would be she was jotting down on her laptop at the same time. As she checked the news, a man around the same age as her opened the refrigerator next to her and asked her, "Rin, any news on the single you guys just put out?"

"I'm checking the stats on a few streaming sites right now," Rin replied to him. He possessed dark maroon hair and similarly-colored eyes. "Takao, it's doing very well. I put up updates on all my pages for it. Check these stats out." As Takao took a look on the screen, he saw it had been streamed on Spotify over 5 million times in about 24 hours, and the lyric video for the song had been viewed 15 million times in 24 hours on YouTube. "I bet the music video itself will get even more views after we finish it."

"I hope so," he replied. "How long will the music video take?"

"We're shooting today and maybe tomorrow," Rin explained. "It should be up by the end of the week."

...

"Okay," asked a director on the set for the video around 10:30 in the morning. "Quiet on the set. The band will be performing the song live to a click track to make sure they stay on beat. This is Take 1 for the video." He then looked to the band and to the camera crew, who were all inside an otherwise empty sound stage designed to look like a concert stage. "And roll the click track in 3, 2, 1..." The band had rehearsed the song extensively the week before for four days straight, and after this, the band would shoot music videos for a few other songs on the album for the rest of the week before beginning rehearsals for the virtual shows themselves.

As the band performed the track live, six cameras rolled. The band would film several takes of the song before then doing a few special shots. The video itself was relatively simple, being the band performing the song mixed in with heavily edited visuals of each of the girls as well as depictions of the Great Flood in various paintings.

After 8 and a half minutes, the song ended, and Honoka asked the director, "How was that?"

"That was really good," he nodded back. "How many more takes do you wanna do?"

Hanayo spoke up next, telling Honoka, "We agreed to at least three, right?"

"Three sounds right," Kotori added.

"Yeah," Maki nodded. "Three sounds good."

As the rest of the band agreed, Honoka told the director, "We'll do two more takes for a total of three."

"Sounds good," the director replied as he gave a thumbs-up.

...

Later that night, as Maki checked the stats for the lyric video on YouTube, Riko hugged her from behind and asked her, "How's it doing now?"

"It's up to 50 million views now," Maki told her girlfriend as she gently kissed one of her arms. "Spotify is up to 11 million streams as well. This song is doing very well."

"I'm glad to hear," Riko replied. "Aqours is still trying to get out as much of its school music as possible right now, so we're backed up a bunch for new songs, and the ideas we're all getting are wildly different."

"How so?" Maki and Riko then faced each other, with Maki sitting in a computer chair and Riko sitting on a bed.

"Dia-chan and Ruby-chan are really pushing for a psychedelic sound now," Riko explained. "Hanamaru-chan and Kanan-chan want to more stripped-down songs. Mari-chan and Yoshiko-chan are pushing for heavy metal. Chika-chan and You-chan are more about pop-rock. Then there's me, who just wants more piano in songs."

"I never thought I'd see the day the Kurosawa sisters did acid," Maki remarked to her with an amused tone. "But I guess there's a first for everything."

"I feel like as of now," Riko confided in her with a worried tone. "We're less united than ever."

"Look," she assured her. "You can explore many genres and still be one cohesive group, Riko. If you're that concerned, try suggesting to the rest of the girls to all get together and write one song with all nine of you as songwriters. I bet you guys will strike gold. I'm telling you, when this pandemic is over, you're gonna see Japanese groups rocket to fame in the West. We're gonna be in the forefront of a new British Invasion, Riko."

"But less British," Riko added. "And more Japanese."

"More Asian in general," Maki corrected her. "K-pop is still blowing up over there in America and Europe. We're merely just riding in with them right now. This decade will belong to Japanese and Korean artists like how the British dominated the 1960s."

...

_**October 9, 2020** _

The music video for Warning From The Heavens went live tonight at 6 P.M. JST with a premiere on YouTube. Before the video came out, the whole band did a livestream to build up the hype for an hour. By now, the song had been streamed over 50 million times since Sunday on Spotify, a record for a Japanese song.

As the song premiered on YouTube, the band talked among themselves from their homes now that the livestream was over. "I think it went well," Nico addressed the group. "After all, about half a million people viewing this right now can't be wrong, right?"

"Not at all," Honoka agreed. "They're right."

Kotori then asked, "Are we all ready for the first livestream concerts next month? I've been in talks with the studio we're doing it in to maybe add four more shows."

"Do it," Maki immediately interrupted her with. "Twelve shows won't be enough. I'm calling it now. Kotori-chan, Umi-chan, you guys can certainly arrange even more if necessary, right?"

"Slow down a bit," Honoka then tried to reign her in humorously. "We don't know about that, Maki-chan."

"I sorta agree with Maki, though," Hanayo added. "I mean, look at how much traction the video is getting."

"Hanayo-chan is right," Umi concluded. "Kotori, let's get that on the agenda. Be ready to add more to the schedule."

...

_**1 Month Later** _

_**November 10, 2020** _

The band got ready behind a soundstage in Tokyo for their first ever concert on the run of virtual shows they would be doing, which had now expanded to 20 shows like Maki predicted. It had been set up as if it were a real stage at a real concert venue, with a large lighting rig suspended above and a screen behind the stage and the drum set. Six cameras would be rolling to broadcast the shows from fixed points, with everyone inside the soundstage except for the band itself on stage wearing masks.

Kotori was watching from a small opening in the curtains as the sound crew readied the introduction for the concert. Then, once they gave her a thumbs-up, she turned around to face the band and told them, "They're starting in fifteen seconds."

"Okay," Honoka then told the rest of the band as they grabbed instruments or adjusted their headset mics, with Maki grabbing a portable mic stand and microphone as well and muting her headset. "We have a whole month of rehearsals under our belt. We know our craft very well, and we're going to give it our all, even if we can't see our fans in-person. Treat this like any other concert, girls. With that, I wish us all the best of luck, and let's go rock!"

On stage, the beginning intro music began to play. For these shows, the music was in fact the beginning overture of A Day At The Races, albeit varispeeded up slightly to match the slightly higher key the song after it was played in by the band. As the Shepard tone segment of the overture played, the band got into position on the darkened stage as the lighting rig rose into the air.

Then, Nozomi, began playing the guitar riff of the first actual song played live as the tape ended. Once she finished the first bar of the riff, a blast of pyrotechnics and lights illuminated the stage as the whole band came into view and began playing. A clash of cymbals by Hanayo was followed by Maki emerging from the smoke, dancing around while holding a microphone complete with a bottomless mic stand. The band wore their Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE outfits, minus their heels, having been replaced with easier to move around in black sneakers. Nico and Umi backed Nozomi up on the guitar, while Kotori hammered away on an electronic keyboard and Eli played the bass.

_Get your party gown! Get your pigtail down! Get your heart beatin' ,baby!_

_I got my timing right! I got my act all tight! It's gonna be tonight, my little schoolbabe!_

_Your mama says you don't, and your daddy says you won't, and I'm burning up inside!_

_Ain't no way I'm gonna lose out this time! Oh no!_

Then, all nine members of the band joined in for the chorus, with Honoka and Rin singing from their headsets from behind the drum set.

_Tie your mother down! Tie your mother down! [Maki: Lock your daddy outta doors! I don't need him nosing around!]_

_Tie your mother down! Tie your mother down! [Maki: Give me]_

_All! Your! Love! Tonight!_

Maki then took over again, singing the next verse as she pointed at the cameras.

_"You're such a dirty louse! Go get outta my house!"_

_That's all I ever get from your... Aaaagh!_

_Family ties! In fact I don't think I ever heard a single little civil word from those guys!  
_

_But you know I don't give a light! I'm gonna make out_ _alright!_ _  
_

_I've got a sweetheart hand to put a stop to all that grousin' an' snipin' all night!_

Once again, all nine members of the band joined in for the chorus.

_Tie your mother down! Tie your mother down! [Maki: Take your little brother swimming with a brick! That's alright!]_

_Tie your mother down! Tie your mother down! [Maki: Or you]_

_Ain't! No! Friend! Of! Mine! [Maki: Ain't no friend of mine!]_

Then, Umi began playing the guitar solo of the song as the spotlights shifted onto her away from Maki, who danced around on stage to the solo with Honoka and Rin. All nine were having a blast so far.

 _Your momma and your daddy gonna pl_ _ague me 'til I die!_

_I can't understand it! I'm just a peace lovin' guy?! Ooooooh!_

For the final chorus, the whole band joined in again.

_Tie your mother down! Tie your mother down! [Maki: Lock your daddy outta doors! I don't need him nosing around!]_

_Tie your mother down! Tie your mother down! [Maki: Give me]_

_All! Your! Love! Tonight!_

_[Maki: All your love tonight]_

Umi, Nozomi, and Nico then continued playing their guitars as the song began to close out. Maki told the crowd through the cameras in perfect English, "Oh yeah! Gimme every inch of your love!" Then, the guitars ceased as Hanayo did a drum fill before closing out the song with the guitars. Finally, a final clash of cymbals signalled the end of the rocker as the stage went dark again.

About fifteen seconds later, Umi began playing the riff to the next song, an older high school era song. Soon, the whole band got in on the act, with Honoka taking the mic from Maki and her. Maki played the piano while Rin and Honoka dueted on stage with vocals.

_[All:] Tashika na ima yori mo, atarashii yume tsukamaetai!_

_[All:] Daitan ni tobidaseba! O.K. my life!_

_[All:] Nozomi wa ookiku ne, se nobi datteba takaku tooku!_

_[All:] Mabushii ashita dakishime ni yukou!_

_[All:] Zenbu kanaeyou!_

_[Eli/Kotori:] Sou da yo shinjiru dake de!_

_[Honoka:] Gungun mae ni susumu yo!_

_[All:] Kimi ga!_

Then, the chorus began with a small blast of pyro.

_[All:] Kotaenaku de ii n da wakaru kara!_

_[All:] Mune ni egaku basho wa onaji!_

_[Honoka]: Nando demo akiramezu ni! Sagasu koto ga bokura no chousen!_

_[All:] Genki no ondo wa sagaranai!_

_[All:] Atsui mama de habataiteku!_

_[All:] Akogare wo kataru kimi no!_

_[All:] Yuzuranai hitomi ga... daisuki!_

_[Honoka]: Daisuki!_

Then, the song moved into the second verse. The viewership count was over 30,000 by this point.

_[All:] Naite mo sora no iro kawaranai shi aoi mama de!_

_[All:] Ima sugu ni, aitai ne! O.K. Sunshine!_

_[All:] Narande kanjitai rikutsu ja naku soba ni itara!_

_[All:] Kimochi ga gutto chikadzuku imi ga sugu ni tsutawaru yo!_

_(Eli/Kotori): Sou da ne dare mo ga hitotsu!_

_(Honoka): Motteru yuuki no kakera wa!_

_[All:] Kimi to! Issho datteba zutto ne!_

_[All:]_ _Omoitsuki de ii kara oikakete!_

_[All:] Kokoro odoru basho wo sagasou!_

_(Eli): Tsumazuite okiagatte! (Kotori): Mitsumeaeru ureshii bouken!_

_[All:] Egao wa doko made todoku kana!_

_[All:] Yakusoku to ka iranai kedo!_

_[All:] Itsu made mo kimi to itai!  
_

_[All:] Kakenukete issho ni... Kirakira! Kirakira!_

Maki stayed at the piano as she continued to hammer away at the keys, adding in some custom parts to make the next section of the song more unique before it moved to what was normally the call-and-response section, followed by the guitar solo, which was done by Nozomi in this case.

_[Maki]: Kirakira! Kirakira!_

_[All:] Hai, Hai, Hai, Hai!_

_[Rin]: Daisuki! Daisuki!_

_[All:] Hai! Hai! Hai! Hai!_

_[Honoka:] Ohhhh yeah!_

Nozomi's guitar solo was accompanied by bright violet lighting from the lighting rig, the colored lights being a signature move for every member of the band when an instrumental solo occurred.

_[Honoka]: Ohhhhh! Let's go!_

_[All:] Kotaenaku de ii n da wakaru kara!_

_[All:] Mune ni egaku basho wa onaji!_

_[All:] Nando demo akiramezu ni sagasu koto ga bokura no chousen!_

_[All:] Genki no ondo wa sagaranai!  
_

_[All:] Atsui mama de habataiteku!  
_

_[All:] Akogare wo kataru kimi no!_

_[All:] Yuzuranai hitomi ga... Daisuki! Daisuki!_

As the song closed out with a final drum fill from an energetic Hanayo, Honoka yelled out in Japanese, "Hello to everyone at home!" Two songs in, and the band was already showing off their newfound prowess in playing the guitar, drums, bass, synthesizer, and piano.


	7. First Night

"Okay," Honoka said to the cameras before the band on stage. "Now that we have those songs out of the way, let's do one from our new album. This is a duet with me and Maki-chan. By the way, we are hosting a charity fund drive for Save the Children. We have a link in the description on YouTube, Nico Nico, and BiliBili. Anyone can donate, regardless of what your currency is. We as a band have donated 50 million yen, and we challenge our viewers to match that!"

Nozomi shouted into her headset from beside Honoka in English, "That's about 483,000 American dollars, by the way. Donate in the description!" She then flashed a smile and a peace sign.

Maki also shouted from the piano in Korean, "Donate in the description! That's about 531 million won you guys gotta match! I know you fuckers can do it!"

"My, oh my," Honoka replied to them. "It seems we're all on the same page! Now, this next song is gonna be our next single release in a few days! This is called Shove It!" Nozomi began the song with a heavy and upbeat riff on the guitar, followed by Hanayo entering in on the drums, Nico on rhythm guitar, Eli on bass, and Maki on the piano.

_[Honoka:] A deal's a deal you said, so we didn't complain_

_[Honoka:] But then you took your words and threw them in the trash_

_[Honoka:] You broke every promise, you were so damn vain_

_[Honoka:] But now we are free, and we've made the dash_

_[Honoka:] Away, from, your, claws! Away, from, your, filthy hands!_

_[Maki/Honoka:] Go take your plan and shove it 'cause we don't need it_

_[Maki/Honoka:] You sucked our money away, and gave us nothing at all_

_[Maki/Honoka/Nozomi/Hanayo:] You, need, help! [Honoka:] Oh yes, you do!_

During a short section of drums, Maki jumped up from the piano and switched places with Honoka, who began on the piano in her place. Maki's verse was sung in English, unlike the choruses and first verse.

_[Maki:] You talk like you're some big shot who knows everything_

_[Maki:] But let me remind you that you only saw success because of us_

_[Maki:] Without us, you're done! Go take your meddling elsewhere_

_[Maki:] So be sure to turn the lights off and kiss my ass goodbye_

_[Maki:] Don't, fall, for, them! They, only, lie!_

_[Maki/Honoka:] Go take your plan and shove it 'cause we don't need it_

_[Maki/Honoka:] You sucked our money away, and gave us nothing at all_

_[Maki/Honoka/Nozomi/Hanayo:] You, need, help! [Maki:] Oh yes, you do! Yes, you really do!_

The third verse was quieter, with only Hanayo on the drums and Eli on the bass being present for most of it as Honoka sang in Japanese from the piano.

 _[Honoka:]_ _Let me tell you, you almost had even me fooled_

_[Honoka:] I really thought you were going to be a help to us_

_[Honoka:] But I guess I was proven wrong, you blood-sucking leech_

_[Honoka:] No more will I let my guard down like that again_

_[Honoka:] I hope, you've, made, peace, with, yourself!_

_[Rin/Maki/Honoka:] Go take your plan and shove it 'cause we don't need it_

_[Rin/Maki/Honoka:] You sucked our money away, and gave us nothing at all_

_[All:] You, need, help! [Honoka:] Oh yes, you do!_

As Umi entered into the song with a blistering guitar solo, Maki adlibbed on stage, largely in English. "Oh yes! Shove it and go away! Yeah! YEAH! YEAH! Fly away and don't come back!" At the very end of the solo and the song, Maki spoke one final line.

_[Maki:] (Spoken) AND GOOD RIDDANCE!_

"Well," Maki said to the cameras. "That was an interesting one. Don't worry, that isn't a song about you guys. That's a song about a nasty old man we all used to know, and it's not the only song we have about him tonight. Now, for those who were here before the concert began, we put up a poll about songs that you wanted to hear. The winner for Spot #4 in our setlist is Bassist's Walk, a song from our new album, written and largely sung by Eli-chan, who has become our bassist."

"Why thank you," Eli said to the audience from her headset as she strummed a bit on her Gibson Les Paul bass. "It means a lot to me that this next one was chosen by all of you. As Maki-chan said, this is called Bassist's Walk!" With a slower beat than the previous song, Eli's bass dominated the song, which was entirely in English with a bit of Russian.

_[Eli:] I've come to this town to find my fortune and fame_

_[Eli:] If I keep trying and working hard, everyone will know my name_

_[Eli:] P_ _omogite pozhalusta, you can help me find my fame_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi/Rin:] You know, you know, you know I will succeed_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi/Rin:] You know, you know, you know I will be..._

_[Eli:] More than the bassist who walks the streets_

After two bars of instrumentals, the chorus began once again, an unusual choice of song structure.

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi:] You know, you know, you know I will succeed_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi:] You know, you know, you know I will be..._

_[Eli:] More than the bassist who walks the streets_

Right after the second chorus began the second verse.

_[Eli:] I've walked along the roads here for many a lonely nights_

_[Eli:] Ya ne ponimayu, no one gives me a chance_

_[Eli:] I need to be heard, they need to see the light_

_Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi:] You know, you know, you know I will not fail_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi:] You know, you know, you know I will see..._

_[Eli:] More than the windows as I walks the streets_

After the third chorus came a rather long bass solo that lasted a full minute. All lights on stage shifted to Eli's signature color of light blue and focused on her and her alone. By now, the viewership count had risen, and the donation counter read a total of 1 million yen. Once the solo ended, Kotori began a keyboard solo to go along with Eli's bass, switching to the electric organ setting on her synthesizer and playing along as she also provided some vocoded vocals.

_[Kotori:] Doing the bassist's walk... Doing the bassist's walk..._

_[Kotori:] Doing the bassist's walk... Doing the bassist's walk..._

Once the keyboard solo ended, a fourth chorus began, followed by a third verse.

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi/Rin:] You know, you know, you know I will not fail_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi/Rin:] You know, you know, you know I will see..._

_[Eli:] More than the windows as I walks the streets_

_[Eli:] Dobryy vecher, ser, can you spare some time?_

_[Eli:] I'm confident and won't screw up, so spare me a dime_

_[Eli:] If you need a bassist, I'll be there, so just spare some time_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi/Rin:] You know, you know, you know I will succeed_

_[Eli/Maki/Nozomi/Umi/Rin:] You know, you know, you know I will be..._

_[Eli:] More than the bassist who walks the streets_

_[Eli:] More than the bassist who walks the streets_

_[Eli:] More than the bassist... Who walks the streets..._

As the song closed out, a recording of a busy city street played on stage as the lights went dark, similar to how the song ended on the album itself. For about half a minute, the stage was rather quiet and dark. Then, the start of Bokura wa Ima no Naka de began with a taped intro of the beginning synths, followed by the lights flashing on as Hanayo, Umi, Nozomi, Nico, Eli, and Kotori all took over on instruments. From now on, the song would sound a bit heavier on stage, with emphasis on the three guitars present. Maki, Rin, and Honoka all sang from the center of the stage, with the three dancing around a bit while Maki held up her mic stand.

_[Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Massugu na omoi ga minna wo musubu!_

_[Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Honki demo bukiyou butsukariau kokoro!_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Sore demo mitai yo ookina yume wa!  
_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Koko ni aru yo hajimatta bakari!_

_[Honoka/Kotori/Umi] (Wakatteru!) [Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Tanoshii dake ja nai tamesareru darou!_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] (Wakatteru!) [Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Datte sono kurushisa mo mirai!_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] (Ikunda yo!) [Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Atsumattara tsuyoi jibun ni natteku yo!_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] (Kitto ne!) [Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Kawaritsuzukete! [Honoka/Kotori/Umi] (We’ll be stars!)_

_[All:] Sorezore ga suki na koto de ganbareru nara!_

_[All:] Atarashii basho ga goal da ne!_

_[All:] Sorezore no suki na koto wo shinjiteireba!_

_[All:] Tokimeki wo daite susumeru darou!_

_[All:] Kowagaru kuse wa! Sutechae tobikiri no egao de!_

_[All:] Tonde tonde takaku! Bokura wa ima no naka de!_

While Nozomi had been the primary guitarist for the first verse and first chorus, Umi took over for the second verse and second chorus.

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Kangaeru dake yori minna de hashirou!_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Ashita wa mikansei yosou dekinai chikara!_

_[Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Sore nara okoru yo kiseki wa hitsuzen!  
_

_[Nici/Eli/Nozomi] Kore kara da yo nanimokamo zenbu ga!_

_[Maku/Rin/Hanayo] (Wakatteru!) [Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Kanashii toki ni koso ue wo muitemiyou!_

_[Nico/Eli/Nozomi] (Wakatteru!) [Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Motto subarashiku nare sekai!_

_[Nico/Eli/Nozomi] (Hoshiinda yo!) [Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Kagayaki wo mune ni yadoshitai kara!_

_[Nico/Eli/Nozomi] (Gutto ne!) [Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Kisoiaou yo! [Honoka/Kotori/Umi] (We can fly!)_

_[All:] Furikaeru hima nante nai ne sonna kibun sa!_

_[All:] Firogaru yo kimi to doko made mo!_

_[All:] Furikaeru hima nante nai to kanjiteiru yo!_

_[All:] Shigeki e no kitai moriagatteku!_

_[All:] Yowaki na boku ni! Sayonara kesanaide egao de!_

_[All:] Tonde tonde takaku! Bokura to ima no naka wo!_

Nico began a guitar solo she had written for the song when the group decided to add onto their existing songs on stage. Most of the solo was in fact done by tapping, a fitting type of performance given her guitar was a homemade Frankenstrat copy from her father. Once the solo ended, she returned to conventional guitar playing.

_[Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Yume ga ookiku naru hodo! [Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Tamesareru darou!_

_[Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Mune no atsusa de norikire! [Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Boku no ondo wa!_

_[Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Atsui kara! [Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Atsusugite! [Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Tomaranai!_

_Mubou na kake? Kachi ni ikou!_

_[Honoka/Kotori/Umi] Sorezore ga suki na koto de ganbareru nara!_

_[Maki/Rin/Hanayo] Atarashii! [Nico/Eli/Nozomi] Basho ga! [Honoka/Kotori/Umi] GOORU da ne!_

_[All:] Sorezore no suki na koto wo shinjiteireba!_

_[All:] Tokimeki wo aite susumeru darou!_

_[All:] Kowagaru kuse wa sutechae tobikiri no egao de!  
_

_[All:] Tonde tonde takaku bokura to ima wo!_

_[All:] Yowaki na boku ni! Sayonara kesanaide egao de!  
_

_[All:]Tonde tonde takaku! Bokura wa ima no naka de!_

_[All:] Kagayaki wo matteta!_

Hanayo then closed out the song with a powerful and fast-paced drum fill, followed by one last guitar note from Nozomi and a cymbal clash. After it ended, Maki again addressed the audience. "Hello, my lovelies. Now, this next one we're gonna do is actually three different songs that roll into each other. These are on our new album, but they originally appeared on Sheer Heart Attack by Queen. The first one is sung by Nozomi, the second by Rin, and the third by yours truly." Nico then began strumming on the acoustic guitar as Tenement Funster began, with Nozomi standing in the middle of the front of the stage, embracing her guitar and singing into her headset. Maki played on the piano until the last chorus, when Rin took her place.

_My new purple shoes, bin' amazin' the people next door..._

_And my rock 'n roll 45's, bin' enragin' the folks on the lower floor..._

Then, the rest of the band joined in.

_I got a way with girls on my block, try my best be a real individual..._

Then, Nozomi began singing in a higher voice, indicating the song was taking a heavier turn.

_And when we go down to Smokies and rock, they line up like it's some kinda ritual..._

_Oh give me a good guitar, and you can say that my hair's a disgrace!  
_

_Or, just find me an open car, I'll make the speed of light outta this place!_

Then, Umi began playing a short guitar solo with a delay effect as it was switched on by the sound techs.

_I like the good things in life! But most of the best things ain't free! [All but Nozomi:] Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!_

_And this same situation, just cuts like a knife... When you're young, and you're poor, and you're crazy!_

_[Maki:] Young and you're crazy... Young and you're crazy... Young and you're crazy... [Hanayo:] Young and you're crazy!_

_But oh, give me a good guitar, and you can say that my hair's a disgrace!  
_

_Or, just find me an open car, I'll make the speed of light outta this place!_

Then, the song began to transition away from Tenement Funster and into Flick Of The Wrist as Rin began playing on the piano. After several bars, Nozomi joined in with her guitar, and Rin stood up from her piano, Maki's mic in hand, and began singing.

_Dislocate your spine if you don't sign he says... I'll have you seeing double!_

_Mesmerize you when he's tongue-tied, simply with those eyes!_

_Synchronize your minds and see, the beast within him rise..._

_[ALL:] Don't look back! Don't look back! [Rin:] It's a ripoff!_

_[ALL:] Flick of the wrist! [Rin:] And you're dead baby!_

_[ALL:] Blow him a kiss! [Rin:] And you're mad!_

_[ALL:] Flick of the wrist! [Rin:] He'll eat your heart out!_

_[ALL:] A dig in the ribs! [Rin:] And then a kick in the head!_

_He's taken an arm, and taken a leg!_

_[ALL:] All, this, time, honey... [Rin:] Baby, you've been had..._

_Intoxicate your brain with what I'm saying, if not you'll lie in knee-deep trouble!_

_Prostitute yourself he says, castrate your human pride!  
_

_Sacrifice your leisure days, let me squeeze you 'till you've dried!_

_[ALL:] Don't look back! Don't look back! [Rin:] It's a ripoff!_

Then, Nozomi began playing a wild guitar solo, backed up by Nico and Umi as Rin temporarily returned to the piano. This was one of the two other songs Maki had been talking about after Shove It had been performed, and Rin's anger was evident from it. Then, it ended as Rin got up from the piano once more, with Maki taking her place.

_Work my fingers to my bones, I scream with pain! I still make no impression!_

_Seduce you with his money-make machine, cross-collateralize! ([ALL BUT RIN:] Big-time money, money!)_

_Reduce you to a muzak-fake machine, then the last goodbye! ([ALL BUT RIN:] Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah!) It's a ripoff!_

_[ALL:] Flick of the wrist! [Rin:] And you're dead baby!_

_[ALL:] Blow him a kiss! [Rin:] And you're mad!_

_[ALL:] Flick of the wrist! [Rin:] He'll eat your heart out!_

_[ALL:] A dig in the ribs! [Rin:] And then a kick in the head!_

_He's taken an arm, and taken a leg!_

_[ALL:] All, this, time, honey... [Rin:] Baby, you've been had..._

Now, Maki took over as she sat down at the piano, playing a slow and soft melody before singing Lily of the Valley.

_I am forever searching high and low... But why does everybody tell me no..._

_Neptune of the seas... Have you an answer for me please... And the lily of the valley doesn't know..._

_I lie in wait with open eyes... I carry on through stormy skies..._

_I follow every course... My kingdom for a horse... But each time I grow old...  
_

_[ALL:] Serpent of the Nile... Relieve me for a while... [Maki:] And cast me from your spell! [ALL:] And let me go!_

_Messenger from Seven Seas has flown... To tell the King of Rhye he's lost his throne!_

_Wars will never cease... Is there time enough for peace...? The lily of the valley doesn't know..._

"Thank you," Rin replied with a bow to the cameras. "So that was the second about that asshole we used to know. He almost split me up from a person I deeply care about, and for that, we tell him to piss off! Honoka-chan's gonna song the third and final one later on. You know, it feels good to do something different on stage. I never thought I'd be any good at the piano until Maki-chan showed me how to play it, and for that, I thank her." As she gave Maki a smile, she said, "Now this next one was our first single release from our new album, and it's getting a lot of traction for its length, but let me tell you, there's a lot more to it than just the fact that it's eight and a half minutes long. This is a Nishikino composition entitled Warning From The Heavens!" She then traded the mic to a stage hand wearing a mask as the stage went dark as the song began with a clash of cymbals and a riff from Nozomi.

_[Maki]: On this day, the people of the Earth looked into the sky and saw a message from the angels!_

_[Rin:] They said, "This world's beyond our saving! Morality is caving! To let it stay would be painful!"_

_[Nozomi:] The angels pointed to man who they said would lead the righteous, as he was an example..._

_[Maki/Rin/Nozomi:] An example of, a man who feared the Heavens! He had only one request and he demanded it be done!_

_[ALL:] He requested that his family go with him in his quest to lead the righteous!_

As the riff ended and Hanayo's drum fill began, the lights gave a rather dazzling show on stage, being used to their full effect. Maki then began on the piano once Nozomi, Nico, and Umi stopped playing the guitar as the sound techs put the vocals on a delayed echo on several lines.

_[ALL:] Death! All! Around!_

_[ALL:] The waters purge the Earth of the unredeemable! (Unredeemable! Unredeemable! Unredeemable!)_

_[ALL:] Now the time has come! Now the time has come!_

Now, even the piano stopped after a smashing of cymbals, leaving only the 9 members of the band and their voices.

_[ALL:] No more shall the evil inherit this planet! (This planet! This planet! This planet!)_

_[ALL:] The warning from the heavens has come forth! Come forth! Come forth! Come foooooorth!_

The guitar solo by Nozomi was helped tremendously by the sound effects from the album version, as well as several blasts of pyrotechnics on stage and bright flashes of light that gave the appearance of a thunderstorm storm enveloping it. As the stage went wild, Maki stood up from the piano and danced around on stage with her mic stand, which was given to her by a stage hand. She would point at a set of pyro, and it would go off, giving the impression she was commanding the storm as Rin went to the piano and played along.

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come," said the righteous man, as the sinful people of the Earth were washed away!_

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come," said the righteous man, as the angels' warning from the heavens came too late!_

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come," said the righteous man, as God cast his judgement on the sinful below!  
_

_[Maki:] "Oh! I see the time has come,"_ _said the righteous man, as they were swept away at a distance just a stone's-throw!_

_[Rin:] We can hear the people shout! We can hear the people scream! Yet we cannot do a thing! Yet we cannot do a thing!_

_[Rin:] They brought it on themselves! They brought it on themselves! The people of the Earth! The people of the Earth!_

_[Nozomi:] This melody of destruction guarantees, that once these sinners cease to be!_

_[Nozomi:] Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth! Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth!_

_[Maki/Rin/Nozomi:]_ _Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth! Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth!_

 _[ALL:]_ _Peace all around will be brought back to the Earth! Peace all around will be brought back to the Eaaaaaaarth!_

As a well-rehearsed tempo changed occurred, all lights changed to red and focused on Maki, whose mic was put on a delayed echo.

_[Maki:] Aaaaah... (Aaaaah... Aaaaah... Aaaaah...)_

_[Maki:] Woah woah woah woaaaaah! (Woah woah woah woaaaaah! Woah woah woah woaaaaah! Woah woah woah woaaaaah!)_

_[Maki:] Can't they listen to the words of the heavens? (Can't they listen to the words of the heavens? Can't they listen to the words of the heavens? Can't they listen to the words of the heavens?)_

_[Maki:] As the cracks in their facade begin to widen... (As the cracks in their facade begin to widen... As the cracks in their facade begin to widen... As the cracks in their facade begin to widen...)_

_[Maki:] Their true nature is revealed! (Their true nature is revealed! Their true nature is revealed! Their true nature is revealed!)_

_[Maki:] They should have listened... (They should have listened... They should have listened... They should have listened...)_

_[Maki:] To the warning from the heavens! (To the warning from the heavens! To the warning from the heavens! To the warning from the heavens!)_

_[ALL:] Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! (Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah!)_

_[ALL:] May God grant us strength! (May God grant us strength! May God grant us strength! May God grant us strength! May God grant us strength!)_

Once the song sped back up, Nico's solo began, with the lights changing to a dark pink and focusing on her exclusively for a minute and a half before Rin sang. As with Bokura Ima no Naka de, her solo employed extensive use of tapping.

_[Rin:] Now the flood has passed, and the righteous have the Earth! No longer shall war and hate poison minds! The angels and their God are satisfied!_

_[Nozomi:] The perfect world is upon us! The land is clean and free! So are the water of the seas! The blight of the seven sins has ceased to be!_

Then, Umi ended the hard rock section with a riff that had a delay-echo effect applied to it. Once the last of the guitar was heard and faded out, the song became quiet as Maki sang the last line alone.

_[Maki:] Oh, the land is pure... Oh, the people are free... The heavens are satisfied... The heavens are satisfied!_

Nozomi started up the conclusion of the song, playing a rather soft and quiet riff for half a minute before it ended very suddenly with a scare chord and crash of cymbals. As the song ended, even the stage crew and camera crew began to clap, awestruck by the incredible performance of the song as Maki bowed and told the cameras, "Thank you! Thank you!"


End file.
